Milk Tea/Story
Fondness Story i. Neighbor "Milk Tea, that monkey is going to steal your trunk!" When I first heard Tiramisu’s warning, I still didn’t react. Until I felt a tug from my hands, I looked down to see a monkey pulling my trunk away from me, "Ah! Please let go of my box!" I squealed in shock and didn’t dare to let go, so Tiramisu used her powers to scare away the monkey. I frightenedly thanked her and she waved it off while smiling, as she thoughtfully looked towards the town behind the forest that we were about to reach. "A small town by the side of the forest, complete with monkeys that try to rob us of our things…..looks like this place really is peaceful." "I have only heard that humans could get robbed by monkeys in the wild, but I never thought that I would be a victim too." "Okay, the monkeys are already scared off anyways, don’t you think this could be a good addition to your adventure novel?" "Mm, at least it was a worthwhile trip~" I held on to Tiramisu’s hand to stand up, dusted the dirt off my skirt, and reorganised my mood to head to the nearby small town with her. This is a peaceful town that has never been attacked by fallen angels before. But because it’s so close to the forest, there will be the occasional wild animals that appear in the town, like pythons or monkeys. The townsfolk are already used to it, even though many tourists who have been here before are not accustomed to opening their doors to find the scary figure of a python. The reputation of this town still spread out, and as such there were many people who traveled here for wanting to have close contact with these wild animals – Tiramisu and I are not one of them, we just were really interested in this town that lived harmoniously with nature. As such, even if there was a little episode of a trunk getting snatched, it still doesn’t affect my mood. After all, this is a once in a lifetime experience. "No! Move it away immediately! If you park your carriage here, how am I supposed to do business!" We just reached the town when we heard a voice screaming loudly, there was already a group of people watching. Tiramisu and I curiously went to look, and we only saw a horse carriage parked in front of the doorway of two shops, one of the men was holding a leather shoe, and the other was holding on to a box that was moved off the carriage. "There they go again, ever since those two families had the fallout, there is nothing under the sky that can’t be argued about for them." "They used to be so close as if they were one family, look at them now. I say that tailor must have purposely parked the carriage like that, just to anger the cobblers’." Listening in to the whispers from the crowd of spectators, Tiramisu and picked out the news. The ones who are quarreling are the town’s tailor and cobbler, the two families were neighbors for many years. They were originally really close, but one day they had a fallout so since then they have always been at each other’s necks, and no one else knows the reason why. I was very curious as to what happened between these two houses, but I also didn’t want to randomly investigate into strangers’ private lives. Letting out a long sigh, I prepared to pull Tiramisu away from the crowds, but I heard her call my name. At the moment I wouldn’t have even thought about it, but this call would bring our journey such an unexpected story. ii. A Strange Old Grudge "Wait a moment, Milk Tea, look over there." "That’s……Let’s hurry over there to see!" I looked towards the direction where Tiramisu pointed, outside of the crowd there was a pregnant lady leaning against the wall, and she looked like she was in a lot of pain. Tiramisu and I ran over together, supporting her by the arms and looking around. "Are you okay? Are you in labor? Let us bring you to the doctor……" "No, no need, I get these pains a lot these days……Thank you……My house is just over there, the one surrounded by the group……" "Could you be?" "……Mm, my house is the one that opens a tailor shop." Tiramisu and I looked at each other, Tiramisu scattered the people with a loud voice and have some people to quickly move the carriage away, and I held on to the pregnant lady while slowly walking towards her house. Once the tailor who was outside quarreling with the cobbler heard that his wife came home with stomach aches, he immediately ordered the coachman to move the carriage further up a little, so that his home’s entrance is easier for his wife to get in, but that also caused the cobbler’s shop to be completely blocked. Upon seeing this, the cobbler got so mad that he started beating the tailor with the leather shoe in his hand. At this time, another pregnant lady appeared from the cobbler’s shop. She stopped the cobbler from carrying on, and so he had to give up. The tailor caringly took his pregnant wife from my arms and brought her into the house. After she laid on the bed, her pain seemed to slowly subside. Because we couldn’t stop worrying, Tiramisu and I followed her in. After she thanked us, we asked her to explain her situation out of concern. "It looks like you and your child seem to be okay, May I ask, what is the expected due date?" "It should be in this month. Oh right, the neighbors are also due this month." "Hmph, we must give birth earlier than them, so we’re better than they are!" "What are you even talking about, it’s not like I can decide on this." We didn’t even have the time to muster the curiosity to ask the reason as to why a pregnant lady who is almost due is allowed to go out alone when the couple started bickering. Tiramisu was rendered speechless with this, but I blinked and moved forward to interrupt them, tentatively opening my mouth. "May I ask, why must you give birth earlier than the neighbors? Is there some sort of saying?" "It’s because we can’t lose to them!" "Eh?" "You just shut up, let me talk instead." The pregnant lady patted her husband’s hand and looked into her husband’s eyes before speaking while smiling helplessly. It’s not only the shops of the tailor and cobbler’s that’s right by each other. Even their backyards are joined together. In the middle of their two courtyards, a cherry tree mysteriously started growing. Even though its obstructing the path, both families were happy to be able to eat cherries, so they agreed to grow the tree together. But when the time came for them to be able to harvest the sweet fruits, the entire tree of cherries just disappeared in a night. Following the story from both sides, both families assumed that the other had picked all the cherries, so they were waiting for an invitation from each other to share it, but neither of them got any news from the other regarding the cherries as time went on. They both assumed that the other just took all the cherries for themselves. After Tiramisu and I heard this, we looked at each other. Just because of a reason like this, there can be grudges between two families? Humans really are strange. But, it’s also because of this, humans gave me lots of inspiration for my novel, and I could understand them a little more. Tiramisu feels the same too. iii. Monkey Wine Once the tailor and his wife found out that Tiramisu and I traveled here, they warmly welcomed us to stay in their house. Tiramisu and I are also curious about how such a small matter could cause these humans to misunderstand each other for so many years, so we thought that it would be a good opportunity for observation purposes, so we stayed without much thoughts of refusing. In the night, I diligently entered my journal entries of today’s encounters under the light and chatted with Tiramisu. "Luckily that monkey didn’t manage to snatch my crate, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to write in my diary anymore." "If you changed the perspective, if you used the opportunity to change a new diary, then that sounds like a good thing too." "But then I wouldn’t be able to get my past entries back." An idea suddenly popped in my head, so I set down my pen and looked through my past entries. "I found it I found it, Tiramisu Jie Jie* look!" T/N: Chinese for older sister "What did you find?" "That monkey! It could be the monkey that caused the grudges between the two families!" "……Monkey wine?" "Yeah, I heard in another town that monkeys will pick fruits to make wine, it must be like this!" I excitedly hugged Tiramisu who figured it out and felt like I uncovered a truth on my own. "Slow down…….Milk Tea. a thing like Monkey Wine is still only a legend, we need to find it in order for this to work." "Then let’s go tomorrow? We already wanted to go to that forest anyways~" The next day, Tiramisu and I woke up and prepared to leave the house earlier to find the Monkey Wine, but a painful groan that came from the kitchen made us unable to leave. "Hurts, it hurts! I think the baby’s here!" "I’ll go call the doctor, you stay here and take care of her, Milk Tea! Help her to the bed!" The pregnant lady held on to her tummy while kneeling on the floor, and she looked like she was in an abnormal amount of pain. I was still panicking, but under Tiramisu ‘s methodical planning, I took a deep breath, leveled my excited emotions, and took care of the lady by her side. I held her hand while both of ours were shaking, and both of us were excited to bring a new life into the world. But the thing that’s different is, I feel like a thing like helping someone give birth would be really interesting if it’s written in a novel! But, Monkey Wine…… "Milk Tea, maybe I should go find the Monkey Wine." Tiramisu brought the doctor in, but she didn’t choose to stay. With the kind of gentleness that Tiramisu has, she should be wanting to help the lady more. I think, she saw that I wanted to have the two families make up as quickly as possible and not have the grudge continue on to the next generation, but I also showed very excited emotions, showing my wishes of not wanting to miss the chance of seeing a life be born for the first time. "But it’s so dangerous in the woods, if you go alone……" "We are food souls, plus the chances of one person being noticed by monkeys are lower than two people, right? And, I don’t want the grudges to continue onto their children, so if we can have the two families live harmoniously together earlier than that’d be wonderful……" I listened to her words seriously, and in the end, it was decided that she would go find for the Monkey Wine alone, and I would stay with the doctor to take care of the lady who’s about to give birth. But, almost ten hours have passed, the sun has already shot passed our heads. Not only has Tiramisu not come back, but the lady also has not given birth yet, instead she’s groaning in pain due to the extreme contractions. To make matters worse, the cobbler’s wife has also had her water burst at this time, and so he ran over to let the doctor quickly come to tend to his house’s lady. With a headache, I watched the tailor who was tugging at the doctor and screaming for him to come over without letting go. I wanted to go up to persuade him, but my arm was gripped tight by the pregnant lady so I couldn’t leave the bedside. I called for the tailor without a response, I let out a sigh and prayed in my heart. Please come back soon, Tiramisu Jie Jie. Even though a tragedy could bring a sense of timelessness to a story, I still don’t wish that there will be any endings that will leave people in sadness. iv. Reconciliation Tiramisu finally came home, she even brought a bottle of wine, that must be the Monkey Wine! She ran into the house with a rush, and upon seeing the tug o’ war between the tailor, cobbler and the doctor, a rare expression of anger appeared on her face. "What is the meaning of this! Are you still going to fight in front of your wives who are giving birth!" "We don’t need you to criticize us!" "Tiramisu jie jie! The cobbler’s wife is also about to give birth!" Once I said that, Tiramisu’s expression got even scarier. She worked so hard to go look for the Monkey Wine, wishing to have both families be reconciled, not wanting for the grudges to be passed on to the next generation. But what she came back to was two men not caring for the dangers that their wives are facing and fighting over a doctor childishly. "Look! This is what your grudge is!" Tiramisu opened the wine jar; the strong scent of wine flowed throughout the room. The doctor walked over, then dipped their finger in a little of the wine. "This is……cherry wine?" "Yes, it is also Monkey Wine, it’s the monkey that picked your cherries, and its the monkey that fermented this wine." "How……is this possible?" A few humans who heard what Tiramisu said was shocked speechless. "When Tiramisu and I came, we bumped into a monkey who was trying to snatch my trunk. There are a lot of monkeys here, right?" "Mm, there are a lot, you can even see them in town……" "Then there can be no mistake, it is them who did it. Monkeys are like humans, they also have the habit of fermenting wine, you all took care of this tree so well, so even the monkeys are attracted to it and come to visit every year. " "So……it’s not the neighbors that took the cherries all to themselves?" "The grudges that you’ve had for all these years were completely unnecessary. Do you still not get it?" Looking at the tailor struggling, as if he didn’t want to acknowledge this fact, Tiramisu let out a sigh, but what she said was brutally honest. I let out a cough to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. "Since you both know the reason of your misunderstandings, can you make up now?" No one responded to my words; Tiramisu seemed like she didn’t want to explain to them any further, so she came and sat by the pregnant lady, took the towel in my hand and helped to wipe her.。 I noticed that she looked at Tiramisu with full of gratitude, and then she held herself up straining, saying to the doctor, "Doctor, why don’t you go over to check……my child, it seems like they’re not ready to come yet." All thanks to Tiramisu, after both families brought their child to the world, they finally made up with each other. Even though the two new fathers were comparing their children while holding them and each thinking that their child looks better than the other, there was no sense of mocking as there was before. The mothers also made an agreement to make a match between the boy and the girl. I was writing excitedly in my book after seeing the birth of a new life, wanting to put into record this feeling of excitement that I was having. "That…..can we make a request for you to name our children?" The tailor and cobbler both carried their children to Tiramisu and me; I looked at the cute faces of the children and pushed my glasses up a little. "Let’s let Milk Tea name them. She has read lots of books, so she can name them something that sounds nice. " "Eh?" I blinked, looking at the different people in the room, holding my head to think of something. "Then……let’s go with Romeo and Juliet!" v. Milk Tea "Eh? You’re done with your story already? Macaron hasn’t even heard enough yet! " "Of course its not done, let me rest a little then continue, okay?" In some forest in Gloriville, there is the Satan Coffee Shop, where many food souls are gathered together. Even though Milk Tea isn’t part of their group, she would still go over with Tiramisu after one of their many adventures to share the stories that they’ve experienced along their journey, as well as the stories that she wishes to write. After all, Satan Cafe is the place where she met Tiramisu, and all the food souls here all have something she’s curious about but can never figure out. But, even though she has went on many travels with Tiramisu, she still can’t figure out why Tiramisu wishes for peace so much. "After that, Tiramisu went to the forest to look for the Monkey Wine. Here, this is the other jar that we brought back. " While she was still telling her tales, Milk Tea poured out some cherry wine at the same time. The mellow scent of the wine attracted a curious Macaron over. "Did you guys not meet the monkeys at that time?" Milk set down her cake, sat by Macaron, and listened to her stories. "We did meet them, that day was super thrilling, we were almost seen by the monkeys!" "If we were noticed, it would have been such a war– Macaron, you cannot drink!" "Uwah……Why does Macaron feel like her head is spinning, the world too." "I’ll bring her back to the room to rest then." After stealing a sip of the wine that Milk Tea brought back, Macaron who is a food soul who has never had a drop of wine before didn’t know that the Monkey Wine would be so strong. With only one cup, she already fainted into Milk’s arms. "Then will you come back later, Milk Jie Jie?" "No, I still have other work to do." "Listening to a story isn't a repetitive task, right? Milk Jie Jie, do you not wish to come and listen more……" "What did you say?" "No, nothing!" Milk carried Macaron in her arms and stood up. Sending Milk off with a smile, Milk Tea pushed her glasses up and pulled out her diary from her trunk, and in it contains a list of synopsis for the story that she wants to write this time. Seeing that there was no one around Milk Tea anymore, Tiramisu walked up to her and read the story in her diary over her shoulder, then let out a laugh. "Romeo and Juliet, their families have a deep hatred for each other. Their mothers were the closest of friends because their houses were opposite each other’s, and under the private encouragement of their mothers, the romance between the two bravely budded, and even helped their families gradually make peace with each other– Milk Tea, is this the story you want to write about this time?" "It’s just an initial thought, I still want to write an adventure novel and let them be in love while adventuring–so this time, I’m preparing to leave tomorrow." Upon hearing Milk Tea’s words, Tiramisu’s expression was one of shock. She always knew that Milk Tea loved to travel around and not stay in one place for too long, but she never thought that she would leave so soon this time. Even on the day they first met, after Milk Tea started talking to her, she already invited Tiramisu to go on a trip, but that still a decision that she made after a few days of getting to know Milk Tea more. "After all, this time I’m writing an adventure novel and there’s a sense of urgency, so if I go to an environment that is suitable for adventure, I should get more inspiration!" With the excited look that Milk Tea showed, Tiramisu tilted her head to the side and let out a little smile. "Yeah, what you’re saying is very logical. Then I’ll be looking forward to your new work~" Category:Food Soul Story